Jr World Cup: Tejaswini lends golden finish as Indian shooters top tally

The junior crop of Indian shooters showed the depth of field the sport has to offer when they finished on top of the medals tally at the International Shooting Sport Federation (ISSF) Junior World Cup, which concluded in Suhl in Germany on Monday. It was left to Tejaswini, a 20-year-old from Haryana, to give the finishing touches to a sterling campaign when she shot a gold in the women’s 25m pistol event on Monday.

India finished with 11 medals in all — three gold, four silver and four bronze. China also won three golds but had just one additional bronze in their tally. The junior crop has now topped four of the last five ISSF junior competitions, including the previous combined World Cup in Suhl in 2023 and the combined junior world championships in Lima last year. 

It was Tejashwini’s first World Cup medal as she shot 31 in the final as Alina Nestsiarovich of the Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN) shot 29 for silver. Hungary’s Miriam Jako scored 23 for the bronze.

Beginning the day at 24th on the grid after day one of qualification had yielded 282 out of a possible 300 points, Tejashwini shot a strong 293 in the second rapid-fire round, which gave her a total of 575 and fourth place overall in the 50-strong field.

She was the only Indian among four to make the top eight as Riya Shirish Thatte, the best placed overnight, shot a 92 in her final rapid-fire series to total 569, missing out by four points. Miriam, a double junior European Champion, took the eighth spot.

When the 10-series of five rapid-fire shots final began, Tejawini blasted off the blocks with two successive scores of four and had 16-year-old Chinese top qualifier Zhao Taotao for company. The neck-and-neck fight lasted until the fifth series, when the Indian shot another four to Zhao’s one. 

Of the other Indians, Naamya Kapoor shot well to rise up to 18th spot with 289 on the day for a total of 568. Divanshi, the reigning world champion in the event, shot 564 to finish 24th and Riya settled for 15th spot overall.

Other Indian scores on final day: 

Trap Mixed Team — Vinay Chandrawat/Bhavya Tripathi 133 (sixth), Zuhair Khan/Sabeera Haris 126 (15th )